You're Alive
by ButterflyN
Summary: Lee and Kara walk into the brig to see the last person they ever expected to see behind the bars. L/K established. M for later content.
1. Chapter 1

- Galactica's brig – C-deck -

Adama looked at the prisoner through the bars of the brig cell, trying to reconcile this person with the son he had thought long dead.

"Dad, it's really me. I promise you. Dad, please believe me." It said with an almost desperate expression. "Dad...". It stopped talking when Adama raised his hand.

He picked up the comm handset and spoke seemingly calmly to the officer in CIC. "Have Major and Captain Adama report to the brig on C-deck".

"_Yes, Sir."_ Replied the officer. Just then the call for Starbuck and Apollo went out over the ship wide comm.

- Lee and Kara's quarters -

"_Major and Captain Adama to report to the brig on C-deck. Repeat, Major and Captain Adama to report the brig on C-deck."_

"For fracks sake!" huffed Kara as she rocked their three month old daughter in her arms while Lee prepared a bottle across the room. "Lee, could you hurry up with that bottle so I can feed Selena while you call down to the brig and find out why we're needed and if it's urgent." She looked at him with an innocent smile. Lee just rolled his eyes, handed over the bottle and went to call CIC.

"This is Major Adama." He spoke into handset while watching his wife feed their baby daughter, he fingered his wedding band with a soft smile.

"_Apollo, the Admiral would like you and Starbuck to report to the brig." _Helo replied not a little gleefully.

"Any idea why, Helo?" Lee asked. "Is it urgent? Kara just started feeding the baby."

"_Dunno, want me to patch you through to the brig?"_ Helo answered while Lee watched as Kara made faces at the baby as she drank from her bottle.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks Helo." Lee sighed tiredly; an eight hour CAP topped off by a cylon attack which resulted in negotiations between the Cylons and Humans was not his idea of fun - although playing viper tag with Kara just before the attack was fun. He grinned at the memory.

Just then a short burst of static from the comm signalled that he had been patch through. He straightened slightly when his father's voice sounded in his ear. "Lee."

"Dad, what's going on? Do we need to come down to the brig right now? Kara just started feeding the baby and Aurora is about to wake up from her nap." Just then a small blonde bundle of energy came bounding out of the other room and launched herself at him while shouting "Daddy!".

"Speak of the devil..." Lee mumbled, then louder. "Hey, munchkin. Did you have a good nap?"

Aurora nodded vigorously with a ginormous Starbuck grin, reaching up and bouncing on the spot she said "Daddy, Up!"

Lee couldn't help but smile back at her and bent to lift her with one arm, shaking his head and still smiling, he spoke into the handset "Sorry Dad, you were saying?"

A soft chuckle from the other end of the line was followed by _"Sorry Lee but I really need you two down here, finish feeding Selena and then bring them with you, I can take them afterwards if you want."_ Lee frowned, then as if sensing his unease, Adama spoke again "_Don't worry son, it's not bad, it's just complicated. Just trust me. I'll see you soon."_ And with that he hung up.

"Yes, sir." Lee spoke softly into the handset before slowly hanging it up. He stood still for a moment until a small hand smacked again his cheek.

"Daddy!"

Again, Lee shook his head smiling. "Sorry honey, I didn't mean to ignore you." He gently tickled her side and she giggled softly before cuddling into him. Walking back towards his wife and youngest child, he spoke again, this time directed towards Kara. "You know she is most definitely your daughter." Meaning the toddler in his arms.

"Huh? Why's That?" Kara questioned, looking up from their still feeding daughter.

"Because, I was ignoring her so she hit me." Lee stated, while stroking his hand down Aurora's back.

"Ah, ok." She grinned unrepentantly, " So... What did dad want?"

Lee looked up from the toddler in his arms and said, "Just to tell us that we are not being called down to the brig for a bad reason, but that he still wants us down there as soon as possible. Oh, and he wants us to bring the kids with us and that he'd watch them for us after..." Lee trailed off, still a little confused about the situation.

Now Kara also looked confused, "Why does he want us to bring the kids down to the brig?" She shifted Selena up to her shoulder to burp her.

"He didn't say." He looked at her with a shrug, then he looked back at his eldest daughter at tugged a little on her pyjama bottoms "Come on munchkin, let's get you changed and then we're going to see Grandpa."

"Yey, Grandpa!" she squealed happily as they started moving towards Aurora's room.

Lee swung her up over his head as they walked and said "You're excited to see Grandpa huh?" over the sound of Aurora's giggles.

Kara smiled looking on until they her entered Aurora's room, when she spoke softly to the sleepy baby in her arms "You know your daddy is a big softy, he won't be able to deny you anything." Selena gurgled slightly and Kara smiled, standing up and walking to the crib at the side of the room, "He might act like he's all big and tough but he's pretty soon you're gonna have him wrapped around your little finger." Then with another look toward's her eldest's room, she continued. "Just like your big sister." Finally placing the baby into the crib, Kara pressed a soft kiss to her forhead before going to change into her duty blues.

- C-deck – walking towards the brig -

Kara trailed slightly behind as Lee jogged slightly ahead to catch up with their rambunctious two year old, he caught her and swung her up onto hip while saying "Sweetie, you can't run down the passageways, you could get hurt. And we don't want that do we?" Aurora shook her head and pouted slightly before cuddling into her father when he stopped to wait for his wife to catch up.

Kara carrying the now sleeping Selena looked up at her husband and asked "Why did he want us to bring the kids again?"

"Dunno," Suddenly he grinned at her, "Maybe he thought that with you as their mother they'd better start getting used to the place."

"Hey! Oh you are so lucky I am carrying the baby Lee Adama." She said attempting to scowl at him, but not quite managing and eventually breaking into a reluctant smile herself, "'cause if I wasn't..."

Lee realising that she wasn't going to finish her threat, decided to tease her a little. "You'd what, Kara? I mean you've got to admit you don't have the greatest disciplinary record." He shook his head feigning sadness and resignation as he looked as his children.

Kara gasped in feigned outrage as she retorted with "It's not like yours is much better Mr mutineer!" They had by now arrived at the brig and were being let in by the guard.

"Hey that was one time! But I never punched out the XO, and technically you committed mutiny when you defied orders to jump back to Caprica, when you also stole a military asset." He countered smugly.

"Whatever, name me one person on this ship who hasn't wanted to hit Tigh..." Kara trailed off lamely as she finally caught sight of the prisoner.

**So what do you think? Should I continue this or not? Leave a comment people xxxx**


	2. Chapter 2

- 4 hours previously – On CAP -

"Tag, your it!" Starbuck cackled as she bumped Apollo's viper before quickly flying away and flipping to face him.

"Oh no, you did not!" Said Apollo, starting to give chase. "You're mine Starbuck." Her only response was more laughter as she attempted to evade Lee.

"_Now, now children, play nice."_ The commander's voice sounded over their comms, _"The chief will not be happy if you two damage his birds playing around."_

"But I'm boorrred!" Starbuck mock whined, "We promise we won't break our birds we just wanna play!

"Come on dad. At the worst we'll give each other scratches, I Promise." Apollo Joined in.

Then Starbuck again, "Please dad, pretty please..." Apollo could practically hear Starbuck pouting. He let out a soft chuckle knowing that his dad was just this close to caving...

Then his console beeped at him, and he heard through his comm _"Contact. 1 baseship. Launching alert fighters."_

"Frak!" Exclaimed Starbuck, "And here I was so looking forward to playing with you Apollo."

"Guess that means game over 'Buck." Apollo murmured in reply as they began to fly towards the baseship. "Galactica, Apollo. We have a visual contact on the baseship. They don't appear to be launching raiders."

"_Stand by Apollo. Alert fighters will be with you in 90 seconds."_ Starbuck and Apollo looked at each other through their canopies and shrugged before turning back to the baseship to see the first few raiders appearing from its bays.

"Galactica, Apollo. Scratch my last, the raiders have been launched. Repeat, raiders have been launched. Starbuck and Apollo engaging."

The sound of Galactica's reply of "Copy that, Apollo." Was almost drowned out by the sound of the engines and guns as Starbuck and Apollo engaged the first couple of raiders, a few seconds later, the alert fighters arrived and the dogfight began in earnest.

Something seemed off with the raiders' tactics; they didn't seem to be trying to get closer to the fleet, in fact they just seemed to be trying to keep the vipers away from the baseship. To confirm his thoughts he inquired, "Starbuck, Apollo. Does this..."

"Yeah Apollo, some thing's not right here." He didn't even need to finish his sentence for her to understand what he was thinking.

"Right..." Apollo murmured, "Galactica, Apollo. Can you give us any extra intel? 'Cause this isn't normal raider behaviour." He frowned slightly when he heard snorts from the other pilots, before realising he rhymed his last few words. Rolling his eyes, he said, "Mature guys." More snorts over the comm.

"_Apollo, Galactica. Stand by, we are receiving a transmission from the baseship." _His father's voice sounded calm and steady over the comm, but Lee could still detect a faint note of confusion in his tone. So he continued t fight, to destroy as many raiders he could while trying to keep his pilots as safe as possible. Just then the raiders stop fighting and evading. They just floated. Dead in space. Exclamations of shock were heard over the comms.

Now even more disconcerted, Apollo spoke again. "Uh, Galactica? What is going on?"

His father's voice sounded again, this time more confusion and a hint of anger. _"Apollo, Galactica. Stand down. Repeat, stand down. Have the alert fighters return to the ship, you and Starbuck can have escort duty. Bring the heavy raider into the landing bay, but keep an eye on it. One wrong move and I want you to shoot it out of the sky. Is that understood?"_

"Yes, sir." Apollo responded. "Okay people, you heard the man, back to the ship. Starbuck, on me. Let's go!" The pilots grumbled as they reluctantly returned to the ship.

"Apollo?" Starbuck questioned.

"Not a clue 'buck, not a clue." A pause, then. "But I guess we'll find out." They flew towards the baseship just as the main hanger doors reopened and a single heavy raider flew out. "I'll take point. Starbuck, you take the rear." He didn't wait for a response, just flew into formation, knowing that she was doing the same behind the raider. They flew back to Galactica in silence, carefully vigilant. They watched the raider land, before turning towards the other bay so they could land behind the other vipers that had yet to be towed onto the hanger deck.

- On the hanger deck -

Kara climbed out of her viper and looked towards the heavy raider across the deck, it appeared as if its occupants had already left as the hanger had already returned to its usual post attack hustle. She turned to see her husband's viper being towed into place then as he popped his canopy and climbed out of his bird. She waited until he had walked over to her before she looked back towards the heavy raider.

Lee spoke, jolting her from her reverie. "I guess we'll get a call when they need us." She smiled at her husband, wondering how he always seemed to know what she was thinking. "Come on." He continued, "We can grab a shower before we pick up the kids." He held out his hand and she smiled even wider, taking it so they could walk back to their quarters together.

- Lee and Kara's quarters -

"You know," Lee said as he sauntered towards Kara smirking slightly. "We have an hour before we need to pick up the kids..." His smirk widened as he reached out to unzip her flight suit.

Kara returned his smirk as she reached out to do the same to him "Whatever will we do?" she breathed her lips mere millimetres from his before they met in a fiery kiss. Flight suits, boot and underwear went flying until there was nothing but skin on skin and the passion between them. Kara pushed Lee towards the couch and hooked a foot behind his knee so he would fall onto it, allowing her to straddle him. Still kissing her, Lee pulled her hips forward to grind against him and used his other hand to palm a breast. Kara's head dropped back as she moaned giving Lee the access he needed to trail kisses down her throat, along her collar bone and then down between her breasts. He turned his head, nuzzling slightly before quickly sucking her nipple into his mouth. Kara moaned again, louder this time and bought her hands up to tightly grasp his hair between her fingers, when he pulled back slightly to switch his attentions to her other breast she hauled his mouth up to hers for another deep kiss. Tongues duelling for dominance, she reached behind her grasping his erection before slowly sinking down onto it. They both moaned, breaking their kiss to look into one another eyes. Taking a moment to just revel in the sensations of him filling her, her surrounding him, they continued looking into one another's eyes - until Kara softly kissed him and began to move. She slowly rose up before quickly dropping down, over and over, every thrust hitting that sweet spot deep inside her. He shifted slightly beneath her, grasping her hip and pulling her down, faster, harder. The new angle meant that clit made contact with his pelvic bone on every thrust, meaning only a few more thrusts were needed until she shattered over him "Lee!" She screamed. Watching her face and hearing her call his name in ecstasy had Lee following right behind her with a deep groan of her name.

Kara collapsed on top of him still shuddering from the force of her orgasm. Still connected they sat holding onto one another on the couch. Lee's arms stroked up and down her back as they continued to kiss softly. "I love you." Lee whispered as he kissed her once more.

"I love you too." She replied, before she stood up and held out her hand to lead him to the bathroom to the shower.

20 minutes later, clean and dressed, they headed out to pick up the kids from day-care.

**Ok, so this is the second chapter and my first attempt at writing smut. What do you guys think? Does it seem real? Did I get the characters right? I haven't watched the show in a while so I do worry about that. Although this is AU so some artistic licence is to be expected. **

**Anyway... Reviews are much appreciated xxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

-Present time – C-deck brig -

Lee followed his wife's line of sight to the prisoner and froze. He and Kara could do nothing but stare at the man in front of them, the man they had thought long dead. How was this possible? Is he a cylon?

"Daddy?" the little girl in Lee's arms whined.

Jolted from his thoughts, Lee addressed his daughter. "What honey?"

"Who dat?" she asked, cuddling even further into him, almost seeming to shy away from this – to her – new person. The person who was now looking back and forth between her and her father, his eyes occasionally darting over to her mother and sister as if trying to work out a complex puzzle.

Instead of answering Lee looked towards his father, "Dad, what is going on?" He looked down at his daughter and began to rock slightly, in an attempt to comfort her.

The elder Adama sighed, and said "Well he's human, Cottle confirmed that but the DNA results will take a while to come back."

"But you believe it's him or you wouldn't have called us down here." Kara spoke softly, now looking at the Admiral.

"Yes, I do." The Admiral smiled faintly.

"But how?" Lee questioned. "How is this possible?" He looked at his brother through the bars. "You died! I was at your funeral, we all were. How-"

"I watched you die." Kara cut him off. "I watched you crash that viper, and as it exploded. Nothing could have survived that." As if feeling her mother's distress, Selena awoke and began crying. Kara looked down at her baby girl, said "Excuse me." And walked out of the brig trying to sooth the crying child in her arms.

The others in the room watched her go until their attention was grabbed once more by the toddler in Lee's arms. "Daddy, where did Mommy go?"

"She went to go calm down your sister sweetie." Lee looked at his brother and then to his father. "Dad, can you take her and go find Kara? I'd like to speak to Zak alone for a minute." Adama looked at him speculatively for a moment before nodding and holding his arms out for the child. Aurora went to her grandfather without a fuss and they quietly left the brig.

Lee turned back to his brother and for the first time got a good look at him; he'd aged, but that was to be expected, he was thinner, he'd lost a lot of the muscle he'd once had and his eyes, that innocent, care-free spark was gone. It was as if in the last few years he had seen and done things no one should ever have to. Like the rest of the survivors of the fleet, he had suffered. Lee was worried by this more than anything else; his little brother had always been the optimistic one, the one that didn't let anything knock him down. To see that look in his eyes, the loss of his innocence was saddening to Lee.

Lee mentally shook his head and squared his shoulders, he needed to find out what had happened, how this was possible.

"OK, I have a few questions, but let's start with this: Are you Zak Adama, my little brother?" Lee looked straight into his eyes watching every flicker of emotion in his face.

"Yes, Lee. I am. I'm your brother. You have got to believe that!" Zak pleaded, hands grasping the bars between them.

Lee considered him for a moment, and then finally nodded. "Ok, I believe you, but how is this possible Zak? We all thought you were dead!"

"First of all, I've gotta ask. What did Kara mean by she saw me die in a viper crash? 'Cause I have no memory of being in a viper crash." Zak implored of his brother.

"You were doing your final check ride at the academy, and as you came in to land you crashed. Your viper bounced and flipped end over end along the runway before it finally exploded. The video was on the news for weeks! No one could have survived that crash. When they finally put out the fire, and pulled out the body, it was burned beyond recognition but DNA confirmed it as you." Lee spoke quickly and quietly, a grief stricken expression on his face.

Zak looked shocked. "I never flew my final check ride Lee, I got kidnapped two days before that. I've been in a cylon prison ever since. They must have cloned me somehow, I mean it's not like they don't have the technology..." He trailed off, looking back at his brother. "Wait a minute, this is the Galactica right?" At Lee's nod he continued. "So what are you and Kara doing here? I thought you got posted to the Atlantia, and Kara was supposed to be on Picon. I thought you'd all died in the attacks."

Lee's head jerked up at that. "They told you about the attacks?"

"Yeah they liked to gloat about their successes every now and then." Zak shrugged resignedly, "I think it made them feel like they had one over on me and the rest of the prisoners."

Lee nodded thoughtfully, then answered the question. "Dad offered Kara a post here as lead pilot after you died, and I was here on the day of attacks as coincidentally it was the day of Galactica's decommissioning ceremony. And dad's retirement." Lee shrugged with a small smile.

"Dad was retiring? Seriously? Gods, I never thought I'd see the day..." Zak smiled ironically, "Guess the attacks threw that plan out of the window, huh?" He looked at Lee penetratingly and questioned, "So, you and Kara?"

Lee frowned and sighed, "Yeah, me and Kara." He gave his brother a hard look. "Look Zak, there were less than 50,000 colonials left in the universe and me and Kara were two of them. We already knew each other and despite the occasional fist fight got on pretty well." Zak's eyes widened at this. "We got even closer working together all of the time, and eventually our friendship turned into more. We got married and have two amazing children. We're happy Zak." He gave Zak another significant look, before turning away to walk towards the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my wife and children."

Zak collapsed down onto his bunk, and put his head in his hands. He would never get to marry Kara, to have children with her. She already had a husband, and children with him. His big brother. He had everything Zak had ever wanted.

- The flight deck -

Lee eventually found his dad and Aurora, sitting at the base of the steps leading up to Kara's viper. Aurora was sat on his dad's knee playing with one of his hands, marvelling at the difference in size between her hands and her grandfather's. Lee had to smile as he walked over to them. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't bother when the admiral pointed up towards the viper with a knowing smirk and stood up with Aurora on his hip. Lee smiled his thanks and began to climb the steps.

Reaching the top Lee looked into the cockpit to find both wife and child fast asleep. "Kara." He whispered while stroking a piece of hair back from her face. "Kara. Come on, wake up."

Kara slowly opened her eyes to meet those of her husband, she smiled "Hi."

"Hey yourself." He replied. "Come on you can't sleep in here, we can go back to our quarters and you can finish your nap there." He said as he reached for his sleeping daughter.

Kara handed her over willingly but shook her head, "No, I'm not tired anymore." She looks deeply into his eyes and asked, "Is it really him?"

He nodded and responded "Yeah. Yeah, it's really him."

She looked away nodding, before looking back at him sharply. "Where's Aurora?"

He couldn't help but smile when he replied, "Relax, she's at the bottom of the steps with dad." His smiled widened when he continued. "She's fascinated by size difference between their hands."

Kara snorted slightly and shook her head as she climbed out of the cockpit and followed him down the steps and to his father.

Adama looked up from playing with his granddaughter when they approached and asked, "Do you want me to take them?"

Lee and Kara looked at each other, seeming to have an entire conversation with their eyes before Kara nodded slightly and Lee turned back to his father saying, "Yeah, we need to have a talk." Indicating Kara and himself.

Adama nodded and put Aurora down by his side then reached for Selena who was still asleep in her father's arms. With one last nod towards his son and daughter-in-law he held out his hand for Aurora to take and left the flight deck. Lee and Kara watched them leave, then Kara took Lee's hand and led him towards his office.

**So, Zak knows they're together... Reviews make my day xxxx**


	4. Chapter 4

- CAG's office -

Kara closed and locked the hatch behind them and pulled Lee over to the couch. Once he sat down, she curled up in his lap. Hesitatingly he folded his arms around her, holding her close as she began to sob. After a while, her sobs quieted into silent tears. Eventually, even they stopped.

Kara pulled back slightly to look at Lee. He wiped away the remains of her tears with his thumb and asked "Are you ready to talk?" She nodded and shifted off his lap to sit beside him on the couch.

Kara turned to face him and looked him straight in the eye when she said, "Before we say anything else, I just want to say that I love you." A short look of relief crossed his face as she continued, "You and our kids – and even the old man, are my life. Nothing is going to change that."

He looked down briefly, then back up at her, and then said with a grin "Ditto." She snorted and shook her head unable to stop herself from returning his grin. She crawled back into his lap but this time straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands settled on her hips, thumbs stroking small circles over the sharp bones. "Damn, I love you." He muttered before closing the distance between them and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. They each poured all of their feelings into the kiss, telling each other just how much they loved and wanted the other.

Eventually when oxygen became an issue they pulled back and Kara leaned her forehead against Lee's, "I love you too."

They sat silently like that for a while, until Lee cleared his throat and spoke "So now that we know we love each other." He grinned and then turned serious. "Do you want to explain to me exactly what you're thinking? And why you cried like that? Because, I have never seen you cry like that and you cried a lot when you were pregnant. Both times." A little outraged she pulled back and smacked him on the arm. He grinned again in response, and then said, "Seriously Kara, what's going on?"

She looked at him for a long moment, before sighing and once again shifting off his lap. She sat cross-legged facing him and waited until he turned to face her before she looked at her hands and started speaking. "It's just that, these last few years with you have been amazing, I mean you just get me. Even when we argue, I love you. It's like no matter how much you piss me off, I want to be with you. I can't get away from loving you, Lee." She smiled at him ruefully, and he smiled back nodding. "But then seeing Zak again today, it brought up all those memories of being with him. Back then I thought I was happy but now I know I was just content – and there is a big difference between the two." She looked at him seriously and then continued, "It made me realise how much of our relationship was superficial, Zak couldn't deal with my emotions." She looked up at Lee once more and held his gaze. "He just expected me to be Starbuck all the time and left me to myself when I was Kara. But you, you understand all of me and that I am a kick ass viper pilot and officer, but also that I am a woman who occasionally needs to break down and be held until I can pull myself back together again, or even more occasionally needs someone to help me through the rough patches." She looked back down at her hands and shrugged "You're the only one who has ever accepted me as a whole and not seemed to prefer one side of me over the others."

Lee sat gobsmacked for a moment, his mind going over everything she just told him. He reached out and gently lifted her chin, coaxing her to look at him once more. "Kara..." His voice choked with emotion, he cleared his throat and tried again, "Kara, everything you just told me I feel about you too. Before you I never let anyone get close enough for them to see all of me, I never even gave them the chance to accept me for me. But with you, it was like I didn't have a choice and I found myself trusting you with things that I'd previously never even considered giving other people. I love you Kara, I love you because you are you. All of you. Why would I ever want to change you? What would give me the right to change you?" He pulled her in for a hug when she began sobbing again, he could barely make out her "I love you too". He manoeuvred them so they were both laid out on the couch, Kara half on top him, holding her close. He murmured sweet nothings in her ear; stroking a soothing hand up and down her back until eventually she fell, exhausted, into a deep sleep. He followed not long after.

- The Admiral's quarters -

Bill was just placing a still sleeping Selena in her crib when a knocked sounded at the hatch. He walked over and opened it, not wanting to wake Selena by shouting. He smiled when he saw who was on the other side.

"Bill." She smiled, leaning in for a quick kiss. He stepped back and she walked past him into the room. Spotting Aurora drawing on the floor by the couch, she walked over and kneeled down beside her, "Hi Honey."

Aurora looked up and squealed "Grandma!" Throwing herself into Laura's arms.

Laura beamed at the little girl, hugging her tight. "Oh, Aurora. I've missed you."

Aurora pulled back, and put her hands on either side of Laura's face. Pouting, she asked, "Where you go, Grandma?"

Laura screwed up her face and said, "I'm sorry sweetie, I had to meet with lots of people all over the fleet. " She kissed Aurora on the nose and smiled. "But I'm here now. So, do you want to show me what you were drawing?"

Aurora nodded, and hopped down from her honorary grandmother's lap to go get the picture she had been colouring in when Laura arrived.

Bill watched two of his favourite people play, with a smile.

A few minutes later, another knock sounded at the hatch. Again Bill went to open it, this time it was his eldest son and daughter-in-law. He gestured for them to enter, and Kara walked straight towards her youngest daughter's crib. Finding her awake and softly gurgling, and kicking her legs in the air, Kara smiled down at her daughter before picking her up and settling her in her arms. She then walked over to the couch and sat down next to her husband, cuddling into his side.

Bill smiled when he saw Lee wrap his arm protectively around his wife and youngest daughter. He had feared that Zak's return would upset their relationship, but was happy to see that they were as in synch as ever. It appeared that now they were finally together, nothing could break them apart.

Lee's voice broke him from his reverie, "So, how did the meeting with the quorum go?" he asked Laura.

"You know sometimes, I think that politicians squabble even more than elementary school children." Laura shook her head in exasperation. "I swear I never had to break up this many arguments when I was a teacher. They haven't reached a decision yet and quite frankly I don't think it will be any time soon when they do!"

"In fairness to the quorum, the Cylons are asking for a lot of trust, and a lot of people are scared of what will happen if we go through with this deal." Bill interjected.

Kara looked between her father-in-law and the president and asked, "What deal exactly?" Lee nodded in agreement with the question.

Bill and Laura share a look, and Laura takes a deep breath before looking back at the couple on the couch, holding their youngest child while she herself sat on the floor with their eldest daughter. "The Cylons are willing to release all of their human prisoners in exchange for the final five Cylons."

Lee and Kara looked at one another for a moment, then back at the president. Lee spoke this time, "But we don't know who the final five are, do we?" Lee and Kara shared another look, "And there's more isn't there."

Laura sighed, she was hoping she wouldn't have to tell them this. "Yes. The model known as Leoben wants to speak with Kara." Kara flinched visibly and Lee pulled her tighter against his side. Selena, feeling the tension in the room, started to cry. Instantly both parents tried to sooth her.

"Lee?" Kara asked, nodding towards the diaper bag.

"Yeah, I got it." Lee stood up and went to mix his daughter a bottle. Bottle mixed, he handed it to Kara who started to feed their daughter. Once fed and burped, Selena quickly fell asleep so Kara took her back to her crib before returning to the couch to sit with her husband. He took her hand and intertwined their fingers; she squeezed his hand in return.

Lee picked up the conversation where it had left off, "Leoben is not coming anywhere near Kara." He said with a deadly glare towards his father.

"Don't look at me like that." Bill said to his son, seemingly affronted. "I entirely agree, which is why one of the stipulations when we agreed to meet with them was that that particular model not be allowed aboard this ship.

Lee nodded, slightly mollified and Kara relaxed slightly. Her fear for her family lessened, she had no doubt that that particular model would do anything to have her in his possession, including using her family as leverage.

Laura spoke up then, "What of the prisoner they already released to us? Is it really him?" She asked Bill cautiously.

Bill looked towards Lee, who nodded, before replying. "Yes, it's him." Bill rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "I honestly have no idea what to do with him. How to act around him. Also, there are the practical considerations; where is he going to stay? Can I add him as part of the air group?"

Kara spoke up at this. "No!" She blushed a little at her vehemence. "He can't fly, not vipers anyway. He'd probably be ok on the raptors, but he needs training first. And I'm not sure I can do that." Kara finished quietly.

"I agree." Lee said as he squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I never saw him in the sky dad, but his sim runs were awful. He was slow so he tried to compensate by over correcting. He was too heavy handed for vipers. Now that I think about it he'd probably do fairly well on raptors." Kara squeezed his hand back and nodded in agreement.

Bill looked at them thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "Ok, I'll talk to him; see if he wants to train on raptors. Kara, if you can't train him, then who will?" He asked gently.

"Racetrack." She answered immediately. "She's a good stick and she's patient, plus he already knows the theory. He just needs to work on the practical side. That is if he agrees to train on raptors, if he wants to stick with vipers then tough 'cause that is not happening. Its raptors or nothing." She paused for a second. "Nothing to do with flight anyway." She looked up at her husband to find him smiling down at her; she knew he agreed with everything she just said.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it's been a while since I last updated but exam season is finally over, so hopefully now I can start writing and posting on a semi-organised schedule.**

**I know the last chapter was kind of sappy but I felt that Lee and Kara needed the opportunity to reaffirm their feelings for each other; I hope they were still in character. Let me know if you think otherwise or have any other suggestions **

**Anyway, on with the story...**

The silence was broken when Aurora yawned and rubbed her eyes. She stood and walked towards her father, "Daddy, I'm hungry." She said as she climbed up onto his lap.

Lee smiled, "Yeah, me too munchkin. Come on, let's go to the mess." The young family stood, saying their goodbyes and left the room.

Bill and Laura remained behind. They sat for a moment in contemplation.

"You know, I'm glad their relationship doesn't seem to have been affected by this." Laura said as she casually walked towards Bill and settled on his lap. "I must admit I was a little bit worried."

Bill looked at her in shock, "I was thinking the exact same thing." He murmured.

She gave him an enigmatic smile, and a quick kiss, in reply before jumping out of his lap and heading towards the hatch. "I have to get back to the quorum; hopefully they will have made at least some progress." She frowned slightly, and then brightened. "But I should be back in a couple of hours." She blew him one last kiss before she too left the room.

Bill remained in his chair, shaking his head with a small smile. As strange as his family was, he wouldn't change them for the world. He looked at the ever-present mound of paperwork on his desk and decided that it was more important that he be in CIC for the time being – he could always do the paperwork later.

- Officer's Mess hall -

"You know, it's amazing that she doesn't complain about having to eat this crap." Kara noted, nodding at Aurora.

"It's all she's ever known Kara, if we ever get any good food she'd probably refuse to eat this." Replied Lee before scooping his final bit of mush into his mouth, swallowing with a grimace, he continued. "'Cause this stuff is seriously disgusting."

Kara snorted quietly and looked down at Selena, sleeping in her arms. "Do you think we'll find it, Lee? Do you think these two will ever get to eat real food?" she looked imploringly at her husband.

Lee sighed. "I hope so." He gestured at the children, "For their sakes I really do. But honestly, I don't know. And if we do it'll likely be quite some time before we get there." He scooped Aurora into his lap and began wiping off the algae she'd somehow managed to get all over herself. She'd recently begun insisting that she could feed herself, and her attempts were messy to say the least. "This isn't working, she needs a bath." He turned his daughter in his lap so that she was facing him. "Aurora, honey, how did you manage to get your food in your hair? It's not even just in the front; it's on top of your head!" Aurora just giggled in reply and started playing with his dog tags. Lee sighed again and stood with Aurora on his hip and picked up their trays. "Come on, we'll go get you cleaned up properly." He looked back at his wife who was watching the interaction with amusement, "Coming, Kara?"

"Yeah, this little one needs to spend some time in her crib." Meaning the still sleeping baby in her arms, she stood and followed Lee out of the mess, depositing their trays on their way.

- Meanwhile – C-deck Brig -

Zak looked up as the Admiral walked into the brig, he walked up to the bars and spoke with prevarication. "You're being released, all of Cottle's tests came back. He confirmed that you are human and that your DNA is that of Ensign Zak Adama." He paused when he saw the look of relief on his son's face. "You'll be assigned a bunk, but where that bunk is will depend on how you answer my next question."

"What-?" Zak started but a glare from the Admiral shut him up.

"Would you prefer to train to fly raptors? Or would you like to work as part of the engineering crew? I seem to recall you enjoyed taking thing apart and putting them back together again when you were a child."

Zak seemed to consider for a moment, but then looked his father directly in the eyes. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

The Admiral nodded, "Granted."

"Why raptors, Dad? I was trained as a viper pilot if you recall and I'm not the one who crashed and burned..." he trailed off, still finding it hard to believe that his family had seen 'him' die so horribly.

Adama stared at him for a moment, considering how much to tell him, then decided to tell him the whole truth. "Because quite frankly, you're not cut out for vipers, Zak." He didn't even pause when Zak flinched. "Both Lee and Kara agree that you are too heavy handed for vipers and that you would be better suited to the buses." He stopped talking when Zak almost staggered backwards and collapsed onto his bunk with his head in his hands. Adama gestured for the guard to unlock the cell, once opened he walked towards his son and sat down beside him. Placing his hand onto Zak's shoulder he continued. "Son, I know this is probably hard for you to hear but I have to agree with the assessments of my CAG and flight instructor. They know what they're talking about, and if you can't see that too then I can't allow you to fly at all." At this Zak looked up at his father.

"Dad, I want to fly. I love it and if training on raptors is the only way I'm going to be able to then I'll do it. Just please don't ground me." Zak looked almost heartbroken at the thought.

"Good choice, son. You're bunk is in the Junior pilots bunk room. You'll have to undergo a complete flight physical with Doc Cottle before you go anywhere a plane though." Zak nodded his acceptance, and Adama patted his shoulder before standing, "Come on, I'll escort you to your bunk, we'll stop by the Quartermaster's on the way and see if we can't get you a couple of uniforms."

Zak stood and followed him out of the brig, towards the Quartermaster's store.

**A shortish chapter for now, but any suggestions are greatly appreciated xxxx**


	6. Chapter 6

- Corridor near living quarters -

Lee and Kara walked down the corridor with their children in their arms, Aurora had hold of Lee's dog tags with one hand and her other arm was wrapped around his neck, her head resting on his shoulder, looking behind them. "Grandpa!" she squealed.

Lee jerked his head to the side, away from her mouth. "Aurora, please don't shout in my ear." He chastised, turning, he faced his father and brother.

"Sorry daddy." She pouted and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, making Lee smile despite himself. Aurora turned back to her grandfather. "Grandpa, where Grandma?"

Adama gave her a soft smile and replied, "She had to go see some people Honey, but she promised she'll be back later." Aurora simply nodded in reply, and cuddled back into her father once again grasping his dog tags.

Lee rubbed her back, she was getting tired. "She went back to the Quorum?" he asked his father.

"Yes, she wasn't happy about it though." Adama replied, "Hopefully she'll be back soon." He finished with a slight smirk.

"Stop right there! I do not need nor want any more information." Lee looked a little green at the thought.

Beside him Kara snorted quietly and put a comforting hand on his arm. "Calm down, Lee. He didn't even say anything; it's your mind giving you those images, not your father."

"You are not helping, Kara." Lee snapped, annoyed by Kara's amusement. He would have continued but was interrupted by Zak.

"What am I missing here?" Zak looked back and forth between the other three adults, confused by the amusement on his dad's and Kara's faces and the look of disgust on Lee's.

Adama opened his mouth to reply but was beaten to the punch by Kara, who bluntly stated, "You're dad's doing the president." Upon seeing the looks of mortification on the Adama men's faces, she burst into laughter. "Oh my Gods, your faces!" She continued to laugh, waking Selena who gave a little stretch and looked around to see what had disturbed her sleep. Her little face crumpled and she began to cry, sobering Kara instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry baby, mama didn't mean to wake you." She cooed, softly rocking her back to sleep.

Once Selena had fallen asleep once again, Kara looked up at the men surrounding her. Zak's face wore a sad and slightly disappointed expression. Seeing Kara like this reminded him of what could have become of them if he hadn't been taken captive by the Cylons. Now, he would never know what it would be like to father her children, he would have to watch from the sidelines as his brother filled that role.

Kara, seeing the look of longing on Zak's face, turned to her father-in-law and said, "We need to get these two bathed and in bed, see you later ok?"

Lee, having missed Zak's expression, turned to follow Kara - who had already started to walk down the corridor, saying, "Yeah. 'Night dad, Zak." He heard their answering 'Good night's' as he hurried to catch up with Kara. Seeing that she was upset, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head but chose not to ask her about it until they were in their quarters.

Adama and Zak, watched as they walked away. Adama turned to Zak and seeing the longing still lingering on his face, his eyes narrowed. "Don't even think about it, Zak." He said sternly.

Zak's head snapped round to face him, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he could speak. "Don't what?"

Adama stepped closer and practically growled, "You know exactly what. Don't even think about trying to mess up their relationship." His face softened slightly when the saw the guilt in Zak's eyes. "They're happy Zak, and it took a lot for them to get to this point. You don't get to come between them."

Zak hung his head in shame. When he looked back up there were tears in his eyes. "It's just that that could have been me, dad. If I hadn't have been frakking kidnapped, then that would have been me!"

Adama just looked at him shrewdly, "Maybe, maybe not. But the reality is that it's not. It's Lee, and you're gonna have to deal with that." Zak was valiantly trying to blink back his tears, but one lone drop escaped and slid down his cheek. Adama wiped it away with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Zak, but that's the truth. And it's gonna stay that way." Adama stepped back and gestured down the corridor, a different branch than the way Kara and Lee had gone. "Come on, let's get you to your bunk."

Zak sniffed, nodded and followed his father down the corridor.

- Lee and Kara's quarters -

Closing the hatch behind them, Lee followed Kara to the bathroom. Once there, they both began to strip their children ready to be bathed. Kara filled the sink, while Lee turned on the shower.

"Aurora." Lee exclaimed in disbelief, "You managed to get your dinner under your shirt! How'd you manage that, huh?" Lee finished stripping off his uniform leaving only his underwear and a single tank, he knew from experience that bath time for Aurora meant that everyone involved got soaked.

Kara watched the reflection of her husband and eldest child in the mirror as she finished bathing Selena. Now clean, Kara wrapped Selena in a soft towel and proceeded to dry her before dressing her in a clean diaper and onesie for bed. Cradling Selena against her chest, Kara turned to see Aurora splashing Lee and him spraying her with the shower head in return. They both had huge smiles on their faces, and Kara felt hers grow as she continued to watch them.

Soon, both children were clean and in bed. Lee walked into his and Kara's bedroom to find Kara sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor. He walked over and kneeled in front of her, taking one of her hands in his, he used his other to gently lift her chin. "Kara? Talk to me."

Kara merely shook her head and stood, using the hand that still grasped hers to tug him to standing also. "Not now, Lee. Just make love to me. Please, I need you." She pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.

Lee let go of her hand and brought both of his up to cup her face. He kissed her softly, then whispered, "Ok." And gently pushed her down onto the bed.

He removed her clothes one item at a time, kissing the skin as it was revealed. When she was fully naked, he quickly divested himself of his remaining clothing and crawled over her on the bed, carefully lowering himself on top of her, he ran his hands up her body and threaded his fingers through her hair. He kissed her slowly but thoroughly before trailing kisses along her jaw and down her neck, stopping to suck softly at the pulse point before kissing his way further down her body. His hands came free of hair to gently knead her breasts as he reached her lower belly, with one final kiss to her pubic bone he moved his hands further down to grasp and lift her hips, allowing her to spread her legs wider. With one firm stroke he licked up from her opening to her clit and suckled lightly causing her to moan and grasp his head, holding him in place. He repeated the motion a couple of times, and then pushed his tongue into her as far as it would go. Retreating, he replaced his tongue with two fingers, thrusting them in and out all the while suckling on her clit. Kara could feel the waves of pleasure building low in her belly. He added a third finger and simultaneously sucked harder causing her to explode into orgasm.

"Lee," She whimpered, still shuddering from the aftershocks, "Please, I need you." She tugged at his head until he was hovering above her, and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Lee-"

She cut off with a groan that echoed his as he entered her, and then began to thrust, a slow, deep thrust that he obviously intended to keep up for a while. She arched her back, the angle changing so he penetrated even deeper with every thrust. Their kisses were soft and unhurried and only served to fan the embers of their passion, soon creating a roaring fire. Lee increased his pace and Kara met him thrust for thrust, their eyes never leaving the other's until, together, they reached their peak, crashing into orgasm as one.

Lee collapsed onto his side, scooping Kara along with him so they lay facing each other, still trading kisses as their breathing returned to normal. "I love you." They breathed as they each drifted into a light sleep.

-* a little over an hour later *-

Kara woke first, drinking in the site of her husband's face, relaxed as it was in sleep, he looked years younger. It was as if the troubled that plagued him during the days melted away when he slept. He was beautiful. What had she ever done in her life that made the Gods feel that she deserved Lee Adama? He could do so much better than her. He could have any woman he wanted and yet he chose her. He loved her. He was happy with her, because of her and their children. She didn't know what she would do without him.

She loved him.

Lee woke to find his wife staring at him. "Hey." He whispered, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Hey." She answered with a small, but happy smile.

Lee cleared his throat, "So uh, we need to talk."

Her smile dimmed a fraction, but never the less she nodded. "Yeah, we do." She looked down for a second, then sat up and turned so that she was facing him.

He moved to lean against the headboard then waited, he knew she would tell him in her own time and that to push her would only make her clam up.

Kara took a couple of deep breaths before she began. "Zak." She took another deep breath. "He looked so sad, Lee. It was like I could hear his thoughts." Lee tilted his head in confusion, but remained quiet. "I could see it in his eyes; he was thinking that could have been me. And I feel so guilty because he's wrong!" Tears were streaming down her face by this point. "If he hadn't died – been kidnapped, whatever – yeah we'd have maybe gotten married but to be honest probably not, and we sure as hell would have never had kids." Kara broke down into sobs and Lee gathered her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

He held her until her sobs quieted, "Kara?"

"Hmm?" She lifted her head from its place on her shoulder to look him in the eyes.

He pulled her tighter against his side. "What did you mean; you probably wouldn't have gotten married? And I know you never wanted kids, neither did I, but then again Aurora wasn't exactly planned..." He trailed off with a slightly sardonic smile.

She huffed a short laugh and let her head drop back to his shoulder. "I know we didn't plan on having Aurora, but now I wouldn't trade her or Selena for the world – and Selena was most definitely planned." They grinned at each other. "But I had you, Lee. If it wasn't for you I probably would have had an abortion. After my childhood, I didn't think I could handle it and Zak knows nothing about the way I was raised. I only ever told you." She looked him dead in the eyes again, then took another deep breath. "About the whole getting married thing... We were having some issues. We were fighting all the time, and I hated it. I was seriously considering whether or not to call it quits, but then he died and none of it mattered anymore." She cuddled further into him and Lee kissed the top of her head once more.

"I'm sorry, Kara, I never knew. The last time I spoke to Zak he said everything was great, that you were wedding planning." He shook his head wondering why his brother had lied to him, or was he just too naive to realise anything was wrong? Zak often was naive in his optimism. Lee looked over at the clock, "We should get some sleep, we have patrol in a few hours." He shifted them down the bed so they laid with their heads on the pillows, Kara's back against Lee's front, wrapped up in his arms.

**A slightly longer chapter this time. I apologise for my erratic posting schedule but I tend to post a chapter as soon as I'm finished with it and writing is done at the whim of my imagination**. **So I will try to post in a semi-organised fashion, but don't expect weekly updates or something like that.**

**Reviews are love xxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

**So... Next chapter done. Hope you liked it.**

- Life Station – Day-care -

"I know you don't want to stay in day-care, sweetie but mommy and daddy have to go fly." Lee told Aurora as he and Kara dropped Aurora and Selena off at the ship's day-care centre.

"Mommy and daddy fly vipers?" Aurora asked, clinging to Lee's neck and dog tags, refusing to be put down.

"Yes, honey. Mommy and daddy are gonna go fly our vipers so we can keep everyone in the fleet safe." Kara responded, having just handed Selena to one of the nurses.

Neither noticed Zak enter life station, or stop to watch them.

"But-" Started Aurora.

"Nu-uh, no buts." Interrupted Lee. "We will be back in a few hours and you can spend the rest of the day with us, ok?"

"OK." Aurora replied, finally allowing Lee to put her down.

"Good girl." Lee pulled her into a hug. "Now you be a good girl, ok? And remember we love you."

"I be a good girl. Love you daddy, love you mommy." Kara hugged her and then they stood to leave, their hands automatically reaching for the others.

As they turned they finally spotted Zak, stood in the doorway. "Zak." They said together.

Zak brow wrinkled in confusion, then smoothed again before they looked back at him. "Uh, Hey. I uh..." Zak stuttered. "You two fly CAP together?"

"Well, yeah... " Kara answered. "He's (she's) my wingman." They spoke together once again. They looked at each other, "We've got to stop doing that." Again they spoke in synch causing them to burst into laughter.

"Anyway, we're gonna be late." Kara tugged on Lee's hand. "Bye, Zak."

"Bye, Zak." Lee echoed as they walked away.

Zak stood for a second, confused and frustrated. Lee and Kara were perfectly in synch, they were so natural. He and Kara had never been like that. Why was Lee different? What did Lee have that he didn't? Shaking his head free of his thoughts, he went in search of the doc so he could get his flight physical over and done with. He'd go to the observation deck to see if he could watch Starbuck and Apollo in the sky, after.

- Flight deck -

"That wasn't awkward or anything."Lee stated as they walked onto the flight deck.

"Mm? Oh, yeah of course not." Kara stopped, their still entwined hands making Lee stop also. He turned to face her. "It's not like I married my 'dead' fiancé's brother or anything, and that said fiancé turned out to not only not be dead, but ended up here after the end of the worlds only to find out that I married and had kids with his brother." She snarked.

"Kara?" Lee asked gently.

"What?!" She snapped.

"Stupid question but; are you ok?" He brought their joined hands up to her cheek, and placed his other hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him for a long moment then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She kissed him softly. "Marrying his brother was the best decision I ever made."

Lee untangled their hands to pull her into a hug, "I love you too, Kara."

She smiled into his neck then pulled back. "C'mon enough of the sap, we have a patrol to fly." Then she grinned walking backwards towards her plane. "And we have a game of tag to finish."

Lee barked out a laugh and started to jog towards his own viper.

- On CAP – 20 minutes later -

"Hey Starbuck, you wanna stretch your wings a little?" Lee asked over the comm as they flew closer to Galactica from their circuit of the fleet. The base ship could be seen in the distance.

Starbuck rolled sideways until she was flying upside down, directly above Apollo. "Stretch my wings how, Apollo?" She replied, laughter evident in her voice.

"Well, I was thinking we could pull out a few old manoeuvres." He said, grinning up at her through their canopies. "Maybe even have a go at some of the stuff we used to do in the sims." His grin turned into a wicked smirk.

Her mouth curved to match his smirk. "Ooo, I like the way you think, Apollo." She pulled into another roll so that she was back to flying his wing. "Any ideas about what we could start with?"

"_Starbuck, Apollo this is Actual. What are you doing? Or should I say planning on doing?" _Adama's voice came over the comm.

Starbuck and Apollo looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Well we hadn't quite decided yet, Actual." Starbuck said through her laughter.

They clearly heard Adama's exasperated sigh over the comm. _"Well whatever it is, please try not to damage your planes. I do not want you two pissing off the chief anymore than usual – especially if situation is not life and death."_

"We'll be good, dad. I promise." Starbuck said solemnly, still grinning at Apollo.

"Yeah, dad." Lee pitched in. "Nothing more than scratches."

Adama harrumphed. _"Just be careful, Ok? I don't want to have to explain to your children that you didn't come back because you were being stupid."_

Lee and Kara's smiles dimmed and there was silence for a moment as they all processed what Adama had just said, then Lee spoke. "We hear you dad, we'll be careful."

"_Good, Actual out." _

"He's right you know." Kara said after a few moments.

"Yeah, I know." Lee paused. "Come one, we'll do another circuit of the fleet. We can do a few tricks as we make our way, maybe there'll be a few civvies to impress." Apollo finished with a challenging grin.

"Only because you insist, Apollo." Starbuck grinned back at him before punching the thrusters and speeding ahead of Lee. "Catch me if you ca-an!" She taunted.

Apollo was quick to follow. "Oh I'll catch you, Starbuck. Don't you worry." He sped past her, then sharply turned so that he was flying backwards alongside her for a few seconds before flipping end over end to speed past her once again. "Come on, 'Buck. Show me what you got."

"Bring it on, Apollo." They then each proceeded to perform dozens of manoeuvres, each one more difficult than the last. Their display culminated in them spiralling together, the bellies of their planes bare inches from one another as they twisted through the sky. The few civilians who had caught sight of them were incredibly impressed by what they had witnessed all guessing correctly that they were witnessing the talent of Starbuck and Apollo. Zak, however, was watching from Galactica's observation deck and the only emotion he could feel while watching them was jealousy. He was jealous of Lee's role in Kara's life; she was his both on the ground and in the air. That should have been him! Would have been him if he hadn't been kidnapped, he couldn't acknowledge even to himself that he would never have been as good a pilot as his brother.

- Commander's quarters -

Roslin and Adama sat in silent contemplation of one another, Adama behind his desk, fingers steepled in front of his face and Roslin cross legged on one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"That was much faster than I expected." Adama said eventually.

"I know." Roslin replied simply with a slight inclination of her head.

"So, what happens now?" Adama asked, removing his glasses and leaning back in his chair.

"We wait and see if the final five reveal themselves. If that doesn't happen then we form a new plan." She replied, also leaning back in her chair.

"That simple, huh?" Adama asked wryly.

"Do you have a better idea, Bill? Because I don't, and neither do the quorum." Laura stood and walked over to the couch. She sat and curled her legs up beneath her.

Adama walked over and joined her, wraping his arm around her to pull her against his side. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated."

"Really?" Laura asked with the beginnings of a wicked smile. "I know a way you can work off some of that frustration." She tilted her face up to kiss him. The kiss was beginning to get more heated when a knock sounded at the hatch. They parted with a sigh.

**I'm thinking I might write a prequel to this about how Lee and Kara got together and had the kids – once I finish this of course and the other story I'm working on but have yet to post (a Flashpoint/Stargate Atlantis crossover), but I'm not sure yet. Any ideas/comments are welcome.**

**Reviews make my day xxxx**


	8. Chapter 8

- Commander's quarters -

"I swear to the Gods, if this is not a major catastrophe that requires my immediate attention..." Adama grumbled as he separated himself from Laura and they straightened their clothes. He walked towards the hatch, wrenching it open, he bellowed, "What?!" before he realised who was on the other side.

Zak stood, his hand raised to knock again. "Urrgh... is this a bad time?" he questioned apprehensively.

Adama's frustration borne anger dissipated as he looked at his son, "Sorry, son. Of course it's not a bad time, come in."

Zak walked past his father and into the room, spotting Roslin as she rose from her place on the couch. Zak paused, "Are you sure this is a good time?" He asked his father, "I can come back later."

"No, no. Now's great." Bill replied, the start of a smile on his face. Gesturing towards Laura, he said, "Let me introduce you to President Laura Roslin." Zak's jaw dropped, Kara's comment from the day before running through his mind, "Laura, meet my son, Zak." Bill finished, standing behind Zak and placing his hands on his shoulders.

Laura smiled in response and extended her hand towards Zak, "It's lovely to finally meet you Zak." She said clasping his hand in both of hers. "But if you'll excuse me, I promised Aurora that I'd spend some time with her this evening." She squeezed his hand once more before releasing it. She walked past Zak to give Bill a quick kiss before letting herself out. Just before she closed the hatch, she turned back and looking directly at Bill she said, "I'll be back in a couple of hours." And with one last wink, she was gone.

"Wow... Go Dad." Zak looked at his father in something like awe, "She's... wow."

Bill smiled, nodding. "Yeah, she's pretty special." He shook his head free of thoughts best saved for later and gestured for Zak to sit down. Joining him on the couch, he looked at him piercingly. "So, what's bothering you?"

Zak sighed, his father had always been able to read him. "It's..." He sighed again, how could he explain this? Especially when his father had already told explicitly that Lee and Kara's relationship had his full support and that he was not to meddle in any way. But who else could he tell? Other than Lee and Kara, his father was the only person on the ship that he knew. And he couldn't talk to them because they were part of the problem.

Bill just sat in silence, watching the flicker of emotions in Zak's eyes as he sorted through his thoughts.

Eventually, Zak took a deep breath and focused back on his father's face. "It's just that I feel like I don't belong here, like I have no purpose anymore. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do or how I'm supposed to feel - or act." Zak stood abruptly and started to pace. "I don't fit in here, I have no place. I am unnecessary. What am I supposed to do?!" He practically shouted.

"What do you mean you don't belong here, Zak? And no purpose? You're joining the air group, right?" At Zak's reluctant nod, he continued. "That's your purpose – part of it anyway, you're going to help protect the fleet from the Cylons. Apart from that you are my _Son_, as well as a Brother, Brother-in-law and Uncle. Of course you belong here, Zak. Where else are you supposed to be?"

"I'm joining the air group as a Raptor pilot and I'm Brother-in-law to the woman I was supposed to marry and Uncle to said woman's children." Zak said bitterly.

At that, Bill stood and gripped Zak's upper arms. "Zak, you need to get over that. The sad truth is that you and Kara were not meant to be. Kara and Lee are a pretty much perfect match, you were not. That doesn't mean that there is something wrong with you or that you are somehow less than Lee, it just means that you are different. You are you and Lee is Lee; different but just as special." Bill released his grip on Zak's arms and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Zak, the fact is that in the long run, if you and Kara had managed to stay together, you would have made each other miserable. That is not a slight to either you or her, just a reiteration of the fact that you two were not the people who are meant for each other." Bill pulled back so he could see Zak's face, "Think of it this way, your young, go have some fun. You have plenty of time before you need to settle down – even your brother didn't do it on purpose." He smirked and Zak looked confused. "Not my story to tell." His smirk changed back to a look of concern. "As for the Raptor pilot thing, there is nothing wrong with being a raptor pilot." A stern look. "I graduated top of my class in flight school and I still ended up flying Raptor's in the beginning. Raptors might not be as much fun as Vipers but they have their own uses – Different, but no less necessary." He smirked again and Zak smiled slightly in response. "Ok then. Was there anything else?" Zak shook his head. "Good, I think you need some rack time. Get some sleep, Son. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Zak nodded again, "Thanks, Dad. See you tomorrow" Zak opened the hatch, Gave an absent minded wave for his father, and left. He had a lot to think about.

- Lee and Kara's Quarters -

"Faster, Daddy, I a Viper!" Aurora squealed from where she was 'flying' above Lee was laid out on his back in the middle of the room.

"Well this Viper is at bingo fuel, you're gonna have to come in for landing pretty soon." Lee replied with a big grin on his face, obliging his daughter despite his words. Aurora squealed happily in response.

A few minutes later, Laura Roslin arrived and knocked on the hatch. Not wanting to disturb her husband and eldest daughter, Kara answered it and the two women quietly closed the hatch and stood to watch Lee and Aurora play.

Soon, Lee decided that it was time for Aurora to 'land' so he did his best imitation of the ship's LSO. "Viper 142 you are clear for final approach, copy Viper 142?"

"Copy, Daddy, Princess on approach." Aurora answered seriously. Laura and Kara could barely hold in their giggles.

"Acknowledged, Princess." Lee sat up and pulled Aurora in for a big hug, which she fully returned. He turned when Laura and Kara finally released their giggles. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing Lee, that was adorable." Kara gasped, through her giggles.

They finally managed to get their giggles under control when Aurora noticed Laura. "Grandma." She said happily. Lee placed her on the floor so she could run to her grandmother. He stood and Kara approached him, a big smile on her face.

"Seriously, Lee, that was adorable. You're a really good dad." She gave him a slow, soft kiss as she entwined her fingers with his. Their faces were barely centimetres apart when she whispered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Kara." He gave her a kiss in return, and then leaned his forehead against hers, "And you are an amazing mom."

Their moment was interrupted when Laura walked over with Aurora on her hip. "So, I take it you guys are ok?" she asked with a smile, taking in their posture as they moved to face her.

Kara put her arm around Lee's waist and leaned into him, Lee wrapped his arm around her shoulders in return. "Of course, why do you ask?" She replied.

Laura's smile brightened upon seeing their actions. "I just wondered, with Zak coming back, if your relationship would be affected. I can see now that my worries were unfounded."

"We love each other; nothing is going to change that." Lee responded. Kara leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes with a soft smile, reassured by Lee's statement. Despite having already been told directly by him that his feelings for her remained the same, she needed to hear it said to someone else as well – now she knew he wasn't just telling her what she wanted to hear.

Pursing her lips, Laura looked at them speculatively for a moment, and then she smiled once again. "That's good to hear."

Aurora yawned, ending the moment. "Come on, sweetie." Kara said, pulling away from Lee. "Time for a bath, then its bed time."

Aurora nodded. "Ok, mommy."

Then Laura spoke up. "I'll bath her, you two can have some alone time. I assume Selena is already asleep?" Seeing their nods of agreement, she continued. "Good, we will have fun in the bathroom and you two can have your own fun." She gave them a cheeky grin and a wink and started to walk towards the bathroom, talking softly to Aurora in her arms.

Lee was the first to shake off his shock. "Did that just happen?" He asked the room in general.

Lee's voice managed to shake Kara from her own shock. She turned from where she was still at where Laura and Aurora were stood, to face him. "Yeah... It did." She gave him a predatory smirk, and stalked towards him. "Laura is gonna bath Aurora and put her to bed, and we have a few hours before Selena is going to wake up for her bottle." Kara grabbed his belt loops and jerked him towards her. "What could we possibly do?" Her lips were millimetres from his.

Lee kissed her briefly, but then to her great surprise stepped back. He smirked at her expression. "Mm, what could we possibly do?" Kara then gave a squeak of surprise when, faster than she could react, he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Lee! What are you doing?" Kara exclaimed, she knew he was grinning even though she couldn't see his face.

"Following the orders of our President, Captain." He replied, his voice serious despite the grin on his face, as he started to walk with her (still over his shoulder) towards their bedroom.

Kara beat against his back with her fists, although she too was now grinning. "Lee, put me down! How is this possibly following the president's orders?"

"Because she told us to have fun and I am very much enjoying this." He replied as they arrived at their bedroom. He lifted her off his shoulder and dropped her on her back in the middle of their bed, then immediately crawled up, over her. He kissed her thoroughly, "Aren't you having fun?" He asked with a feigned sad expression.

Kara stared at him for a second, dazed, then grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down for a mind numbing kiss. "Yeah, I'm having fun." She kissed him again, her hand moving down towards his fly.

He grabbed her hand and pinned it by her head then did the same with the other one with his other hand. "Uh uh." He shook his head then went back to kissing her. Kara's brow scrunched up but then almost immediately smoothed out again as he she surrendered to his kisses. He kissed her lips and across her face to her ear where he sucked on her earlobe, Kara moaned in response and raised her hips to grind into his. He gathered both of her wrists into one of his hands to keep them pinned, and used his then free hand to push her hips back into the mattress. "Stop it, Kara. Just relax." Kara groaned in frustration but acquiesced. He moved his lips from her ear to her neck and nuzzled her pulse point before sealing his mouth over it and sucking hard. Kara moaned from deep in her chest, and her eyes fluttered closed.

"Lee, you're killing me here." She gasped as he continued to suck and lick at her pulse point. She wriggled, testing the strength of his grasp. "Lee..."

With one last flick of his tongue he pulled back and looked her in the eye, a minute smirk playing on his lips. "What Kara? What do you want?" He brushed swiped his tongue once more over the already forming bruise on her neck and Kara gasped. "This?" He moved his hand from her hip to unbutton her slacks and pushed his hand inside. She whimpered when he brushed a finger over her clit. "Or this?" He whispered directly into her ear.

Kara jerkily nodded and whimpered, "That... Tha-" She bit off a groan when he pressed two fingers inside her. Sliding his fingers out he added a third when he pressed in again, simultaneously rubbing her clit with his thumb – Kara couldn't hold back her groan. "Lee..."

"What, Kara?" He murmured against her collarbone.

She shivered, "Lee, let me..." She tugged against his grasp on her wrists.

"Let you what, Kara?" He nuzzled further down her chest.

"Let me-" She swallowed. "Let me touch you." A particularly forceful stab of his fingers elicited another gasp from Kara.

He rested his chin on her breast bone to look at her face, she was flushed and sweating, her breathing unsteady. He smirked. She was beautiful, and as much as she might deny it, she liked not being in control every once in a while. So with that thought in mind, he raised one eyebrow and simply said, "No." He kept his fingers and thumb moving in tandem, while he nuzzled her chest, moving to the side to draw circles around one hard nipple with his nose. She arched her back, wanting, needing more contact. He licked it firmly once, twice – the fabric of her tanks creating friction. She could feel the pressure building low in her belly. He increased the pace of his fingers and sucked her nipple in his mouth. Kara groaned, long and low. Then he bit down and pushed hard on her clit, causing her to tumble over the edge and into orgasm. Robbed of breath, she could only gasp his name as he stroked her down. One last slow deep kiss and he released her wrists, pulled his hand out of her pants and stood up off the bed.

Realising he had moved away, Kara propped herself up on her elbows. "Where are you going?" She inquired, still breathless.

He looked at her, flushed, sweaty, messy hair, chest heaving – she looked like sex personified - what he wouldn't give to be able to stay in that room with her for the next week with no interruptions. But alas, those things would have to wait.

Kara squirmed under his predatory gaze; she was starting to get worked up again. No one else had ever been able to get her so hot with just a look, but then again she felt a lot of things with Lee that she had never felt before. "Lee?" she asked again when she didn't receive an answer.

Lee's eyes snapped up to hers, and she inhaled forcefully upon seeing the heat in his eyes. He shook his head clear of his thoughts when her question registered. "I'm going to kiss Aurora good night, Laura is reading her a story." Now that she was listening she too could hear Laura's voice as she recited an old fairytale to her daughter. Kara blushed with the realisation that her daughter and the president of the colonies were in the next room the whole time she and Lee had been fooling around. Lee chuckled, knowing the source of her embarrassment. "Don't worry, you weren't too loud." He quipped, expecting her answering scowl. "Besides, we were given orders from the president to have fun." He ducked out of the way of the pillow she threw at him, and practically ran from the room before she could throw the other one.

Kara scooted back against the head board and hugged the remaining pillow, breathing in the distinctive scent of her husband. She smiled at his antics and decided that she'd better get ready for when he returned – she had a plan of her own to enact.

In the other room, Lee was listening to Laura as she finished her story and kissed Aurora on the cheek before gently tucking her into her blankets. He walked over and kissed his daughter on the forehead, then ran a hand over her soft, blonde hair. "Night, Princess." He murmured.

"Night, daddy." She replied as she drifted off to sleep.

He turned to Laura and they walked a few paces away so as not to disturb Aurora. "Thank you." He said sincerely.

"For what?" Laura questioned. "I love spending time with the girls, which is why I told you and Kara to go have fun." She smiled mischievously. "Your father and I would love more grandchildren."

Lee huffed out a laugh and muttered, "Of course you would." Under his breath. "Selena is only 3 months old; I think we're going to wait while. And that is_ if_ we decide to have any more – 2 is quite enough, don't you think?" He said louder.

"This is the survival of the human race we're talking about, you and Kara are heroes to the rest of the fleet. People will follow your example, and we need more babies to be born, therefore people need to see you and Kara having them." Laura lectured.

"The fleet is less likely to survive if we don't have Starbuck defending it; and if Kara were to get pregnant again, she wouldn't be able to fly until at least a month after giving birth – that is a minimum of 8 months out of the sky. Anything could happen in 8 months." Lee returned. "We need Starbuck in the sky more than we need Kara to have babies. Besides, we already have 2! Isn't that enough incentive for people to get busy?" He added as an afterthought.

"We need to increase our numbers, not maintain them, Lee." She sighed. "But I didn't come here to argue, we'll talk about this later." She said firmly, leaving no doubt in Lee's mind that she meant what she said. She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Lee. I'll see you and Kara tomorrow at 10:30 to go over the situation with the Cylons." She moved off, towards the door. "You two have fun." She said with a wink, she walked out and closed the hatch behind her.

"Have fun, my ass." Lee muttered as he turned to rejoin Kara in their bedroom. As soon as he walked through the door he was greeted with the sight of his very naked wife sitting with her legs stretched out before her at the end of their bed.

"I was wondering when you were gonna join me." She intoned standing and stretching languidly before she walked towards him. She flattened her palms against his chest and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him. "What took you so long?" she asked as she smoothed her hands down his abdomen to un-tuck his tanks.

"I was talking to Laura." He murmured, as her hands slid underneath his tanks to play across the ridges of his abs. "Apparently, the Admiral and the President want more grandkids." He added, skimming his lips across hers.

She froze momentarily, a feeling of warmth spreading through her at the thought of more children. Her hands started moving again, she pulled his tanks off, over his head and threw them somewhere behind her. "And what did you say to that?" she inquired lightly, her hands now moving down to his belt.

"I told her that we need Starbuck in the sky more than we need you pregnant again at the moment." His breath hitched when she reached into his now unfastened pants, and grasped him gently but firmly – a pilots grip.

"Really?" She squeezed him gently, eliciting another hitched breath that she caught with her mouth against his. "And here I was thinking that the greatest thing we could do for humanity, was to have as many babies as possible – regardless of our role in the fleet." She removed her hand from his pants and kneeled down, removing his boots and socks then standing to pull down his pants and boxers, pulling him towards her so he could step out of them. She pressed herself against him, her curves moulding against the plains of his muscles. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and deep, fanning the flames of their desire. "You know what you haven't done in a while?" She asked between kisses.

"What?" He returned, breathing hard.

She looked at him with a wicked grin. "Fracked me against the wall." She stated, chuckling when she felt his cock twitch against her stomach. She walked backwards, pulling him with her, until her back hit the wall and she was sandwiched between it and Lee. "Frack me, Lee. Now. Hard and fast."

He lifted one of her legs and hooked it around his hip. He pushed into her, and they both moaned at the feeling. Their lips met in a hard kiss. He set a brutal pace, quickly thrusting as deeply as he could every time. He scooped a hand under the butt and took her weight, allowing her to lift her other leg and hook her feet together behind him. The new position allowed for even deeper penetration and they both moaned again. Their mouths barely left the others in a series of hard kisses that left them both breathless. Lee knew he was getting close, so used one hand to massage her breast, alternately pinching her nipple causing her to tighten around him.

"Lee." She moaned. "I'm so close."

He twisted her nipple in response and she felt the flames between them become an inferno as she crashed over the edge, Lee following close behind. Their kisses became softer as they came down from their shared high. The adrenaline faded and eventually Kara slid her legs down so she could stand on her own. He stepped back, and she felt him slide out of her. They both sighed at the loss of contact.

She stepped around him and grabbed his hand, pulling him with her into bed. They climbed under the covers and cuddled together, limbs entwined and Kara's head on Lee's chest. "As much as I would love a marathon frakking session right now, we both have work in the morning. So we'd better get as much sleep as we can." Kara murmured against his chest. They snuggled closer together and drifted off to sleep.

An hour later, they both awoke to the sound of Selena crying. They both moved to get up, neither bothering to tell the other to stay in bed knowing that they would both end up getting up anyway. Lee pulled on his discarded underwear and Kara pulled on Lee's old pyramid jersey and together they went to see to their youngest child. Once fed and changed, Selena quickly settled back to sleep leaving Lee and Kara to go back to their own bed. Once there they stripped back down and resettled into their previous positions, quickly drifting back into slumber.

**Wow, this was a mammoth chapter. It is almost twice as long as any other I've written so far, but it pretty much wrote itself so I'm not complaining.**

**Let me know what you guys think xxxx**


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